Fire and Ice
by Suzie's Q
Summary: Superhero AU. James has been keeping his power, and nightly battles with the queen of ice, from his girlfriend.


Written for Jily AU Week. Don't own Harry Potter.

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**jily au week, day four, superhero au  
****in which james has been keeping something from his girlfriend**

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**Fire and Ice  
**Summary: Superhero AU. James has been keeping his power, and nightly battles with the queen of ice, from his girlfriend.  
Pairing: J/L  
Word Count: 1,742  
Rating: K+

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James rolled over in the bed; the light from the hallway gave the impression that she was almost glowing, the rest of her cast in shadows and darkness. She stirred lightly, curling into him a little more, and James could do nothing about his broad smile. She still smelled like the perfume he'd given her, after a perfect dinner that they'd cooked together.

He trailed a thumb over her lips, careful to keep the power at bay. He always felt a warmth when he looked at her, and a tingling, sizzling feeling when he touched her, but it was different. Besides, Lily didn't know about him. And he didn't know how to tell her, though he knew he would have to eventually.

When she was very deeply asleep, and it had gotten quiet, James could hear sirens, far off in the distance. He stayed with his arm around his girlfriend for a few seconds longer, and then sighed, detaching himself from her and getting up. As quietly as he could, he pulled open a drawer and rummaged through it, right to the end beyond where neither of them ever bothered to search.

With his mask on, and guilt and worry weighing down his heart, he kissed her forehead one more time, smiling over her as she slept peacefully. He liked watching her sleep. She always looked so peaceful, and it made him feel peaceful, in stark contrast to what he was about to do.

He sighed, covering her over with the blankets carefully before slipping quietly out, casting one last glance over his shoulder to make sure Lily was safe, before he went to finish the fight – again.

XXX

She threw him up against the wall, face first, and James groaned. This was not part of the plan. He'd been on his way home – job done, thieves tied up and left for the police to find – but on a shortcut back to his apartment before Lily could notice he was gone, something was standing in his way.

He'd felt the air go cold, and he'd known it was her. She always loved to give herself away, by that wretched power of hers. And James knew she viewed it all as a game, but she was _dangerous. _

"Fancy seeing you here," she'd remarked, and just beneath the pale blue mask she grinned at James brilliantly. She had her hands in front of her, and she seemed to be twirling what looked like a small flurry in her hands, which was growing bigger and bigger.

The next thing he knew, he'd had three shards of very pointy ice pointing at him, just stopping him before he plunged gut-first into one of them.

An icy whip had curled around his legs, throwing him off balance and face front into the ground, and she stood over him. She seemed angry – even colder than usual.

It was hard to fight back – her particular brand of power sort of suffocated his, but he managed it for the most part, getting a burn in here and there, digging a blow where he could manage it.

But he'd still ended up pressed against the wall, arm twisted uncomfortably behind his back and his face pressed into cold, brick wall.

"Dear me, we're off our game tonight, aren't we?"

He gritted his teeth and drove his elbow back, her outcry letting him know that he'd hit his mark. He twisted, and pulled her arm around her back. She let out a gasp of pain and surprise, tilting her head up.

"Looks like I'm not the only one."

"Oohh, not playing fair anymore, are we?" she teased.

"Can't take that risk with you." She laughed, and James paused, his grip on her slackening. He gulped, just managing to keep a hold of her. He knew that scent. He knew it because it was new, and he'd been smelling it all evening.

Before he had time to come to his senses, she took advantage of his paralysis, wrenching her arm free and kneeing him in the groin. There was ice on his hands and sleeves, just starting to melt, and it felt like someone was driving knives into his skin. She laughed, and – without taking the time to whip another sheet or point of ice, she vanished into the night.

The cold air she'd left in her wake left him struggling to find his breath for the next few minutes, as he regained himself. The ice melted, since she was no longer there to sustain it.

He eventually forced himself to his feet, still reeling slightly. He hardly remembered getting back to his apartment, his mind so full and so disoriented. He slid into the bed beside his girlfriend, still in her nightdress, her hair spread out over the pillow and a tiny smile on her face.

He bent his head as he shuffled down the bed, kissing her temple. There it was again – he'd been right. That smell. But of course, there was more than one woman in the world who wore that perfume. But that didn't help; he still didn't like that they wore the same.

As he fell asleep, his arms tucked tightly around Lily, a thought struck him. He'd fought with her plenty times, that bloody ice queen – although he was sure that wasn't her official title – and he had never smelt that perfume on her before ...

XXX

Lily padded out of the bedroom at least two hours after he did, smiling gratefully at him as he pressed a mug of coffee into her hands. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was a mess.

"You alright?" He kissed her head as he leaned over her to get some more cereal.

She nodded. "Rough night."

James paused, and the cereal box fell out of his hands. He took a second, swallowing, and regained his composure; he took up the box of cereal again and kept his tone nonchalant, avoiding meeting her eyes. "Really? It seemed to me like you slept like a baby."

"Oh, I did," she said quickly, waving her hand dismissively. "I just – bad dreams, you know?"

He nodded, watching her as he sat down. She was running the tip of her finger along the rim of her mug. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I know what you mean."

Things were normal, but – ironically – James felt like there was a thin sheet of ice placed over the two of them. He was quiet, and once Lily had gone to get a shower, he made the decision to put it out of his mind. He was acting crazy. He was paranoid.

That was it, he was paranoid. Lily was normal. Lily was wonderful, and perfect, but she knew nothing of that side of life, other than what she saw on the television.

"James!" she called from the bathroom, a few minutes later. "James, could you get me my dressing gown?"

He got up, leaving his half-finished breakfast where it was on the table. "Yeah, I'll get it," he called through the door on his way to the bedroom, glancing around. The dressing gown was slung on a hook on the back of the door. Still lost in his thoughts, he yanked it up, her familiar scent wafting from it.

It took him a second, but he realized that something had floated out of it – literally floated – and landed on the floor at his feet when he pulled it off the hook, having clearly been in the pocket of a dressing gown. The dressing gown was the next thing to hit the floor.

What he was looking at, as he took the small object up, was a small blue mask, which looked worn and very, sickeningly familiar. He stared at it for a few seconds, images running through his mind. And then he realized that the eyes he'd been looking at for weeks, _months, _under this mask – they belonged to his girlfriend.

XXX

It was three days later before James had said anything. He had gone into shock. It hadn't helped that there was a report of a bank downtown being broken into, its security systems literally frozen in blocks of solid ice. The next morning Lily showed him the new – and very expensive – dress she'd bought for their anniversary in three weeks time, and not only that, she'd searched the whole apartment from top to bottom. He'd kept the mask on his person at all time, and done his best to stop her from undressing him without putting it out of the way, and she was frantic.

And it made him feel light-headed every time he thought about it. He had taken three days to think it over, and though he had made his decision, he still was unsure of what he could say, _how _he could do this.

He did it when Lily popped home for lunch, and he had a day off. She was happily chatting while she ate the meal he'd made her – lovely pasta and mushrooms, just the way she liked – and beaming at him.

She was pouring herself a glass of orange juice, and he cleared his throat, finally taking a deep breath and forcing the words out. They were weak, but he felt weak at the moment.

"So are you going to a costume party or something?"

She blinked at him, bewildered and bemused. "What?"

He said nothing, and after a few seconds, he threw the mask down on the table lightly. She drew in a sharp breath and recoiled away from it – and to James' dismay and utter misery, her hand clamped on the table and a beam flew across it to the orange juice, which was now a frozen block of orange-flavoured and –coloured ice.

Her gaze flickered from him to the cup and back to him, and then she scrambled to her feet. James was staring at her in astonishment, his body gone into shock. But eventually he managed to find some words.

"So it is you."

Her face was cautious, her eyes wide and fearful. He swallowed hard, staring at the floor with his arms folded across his chest. He raised one finger, and conjured a lick of flame, no bigger than that on a birthday candle.

The frozen glass of orange exploded, shards of glass flying everywhere as she backed into the wall, a terrible, ashen look of recognition on her colourless face. "_You."_

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Thanks for reading!


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